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Blessed Jerome de Angelis

Sicilian Jesuit missionary who reached Ezo (Hokkaido), burned at Edo in 1623

Rank
Blessed
Kind
Martyr, Priest, Religious, Missionary
Life
1567 – 1623
Era
17th century
Feast
4 December
Countries
Italy, Japan
ItalyJapan

Life story

Girolamo de Angelis was born in 1567 at Castrogiovanni, now Enna, in Sicily. He studied law in Palermo, but after making the Spiritual Exercises he left law and entered the Society of Jesus in 1586. Assigned to the mission in Japan, he set out with Fr. Carlo Spinola, but the journey took about six years because storms and pirates forced them back. He was ordained before sailing again in 1599 and reached Nagasaki in July 1602.

He was sent to Sunpu (now Shizuoka) to found a mission centre, and then to Edo (Tokyo). After the 1614 edict against Christianity he went underground, disguised as a merchant, and ministered at night. The Jesuit biography says that in 1615 he and the catechist Simon Yempo first preached in Oshu and Dewa and then went to Ezo (Hokkaido), where he stayed until 1622; he is recorded as the first missionary to reach it, and other sources place his first journey there around 1618.

He went into hiding again when he was ordered back to Edo in 1622. In November 1623 an informer betrayed the two Jesuits. Soldiers did not find them at the house named, but arrested its owner and 47 other Christians. De Angelis and Yempo gave themselves up to free their host. The shogun ordered death by slow fire. On 4 December 1623 De Angelis was burned with Yempo, the Franciscan Francisco Galvez and many other Christians, about fifty in all, in what is called the Great Martyrdom of Edo; he was among the last to die. Pope Pius IX beatified him in 1867 with his two companions.

Works and witness

  • Left law and entered the Jesuits at nineteen
  • Reached Nagasaki in 1602 and founded a mission centre at Sunpu
  • Went underground, disguised as a merchant, after the 1614 edict
  • Preached in the north and reached Ezo (Hokkaido), recorded as the first missionary there
  • Gave himself up to free his host; burned at Edo on 4 December 1623

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

  • Jesuits Global, 'Blessed Girolamo De Angelis' (jesuits.global/saint/blessed-girolamo-de-angelis/)
  • Wikipedia, 'Jerome de Angelis' and 'Great Martyrdom of Edo' (first missionary to Ezo, execution date, about fifty executed: cross-check)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.